JP2021503193A - Flexible in-satellite signal path - Google Patents

Abstract

Systems and methods for enabling flexible signal paths within satellites of satellite communication systems are described. For example, a routing subsystem within a ventpipe satellite allows for flexible configuration of unprocessed signal paths that combine uplink antenna ports with downlink antenna ports via uplink and downlink path selectors. The path selector can be dynamically reconfigured (eg, in orbit) so that the configuration of the path selector at one time point is one of the signal paths between the respective uplink and downlink antenna ports. One set can be formed, and configurations at different time points can form different sets of signal paths between each uplink and downlink antenna port. The routing subsystem can have a simulcast mode, which, when active, combines at least one of the uplink antenna ports with multiple user downlink antenna ports to one or more simulcasts. Form a signal path. [Selection diagram] Fig. 2

Description

Embodiments generally relate to satellite communication systems, and more specifically to flexible signal paths within satellites in satellite communication systems.

A satellite communication system typically includes a satellite (or a plurality of satellites) that provides connectivity between a user terminal and a gateway terminal positioned within a covering area illuminated by a beam of satellite. The gateway terminal can provide an interface with other networks such as the Internet or the public switched telephone network. Continuing to meet the ever-increasing consumer demand for data requires designing satellite communication systems with higher throughput (eg, data rates of 1 terabit / sec or higher), more robustness, and more flexibility. And. For example, in response to gateway power outages, weather conditions, changes in demand over time, and other conditions, the way available satellite resources are transformed into the provision of communications services over time is affected. Therefore, fixed satellite designs (eg, fixed allocation of resources across the beam, fixed allocation between the gateway and the user beam, fixed signal paths through the satellite, etc.) are non-existent in the available spectrum and other satellite resources. It tends to result in efficient use, or otherwise suboptimal use of available spectra and other satellite resources.

In particular, systems and methods for enabling flexible signal paths within the satellite of a satellite communication system are described. Some embodiments operate in the context of ventpipe satellites that irradiate the user and gateway covering regions with a fixed spot beam. As an exemplary embodiment, the satellite includes one or more antennas having a gateway uplink antenna port, a user uplink antenna port, a gateway downlink antenna port, and a user downlink antenna port. For example, a group of user terminals within a particular fixed beam covering region transmits a return link uplink signal received via a satellite user uplink antenna port, and a group of user terminals is a satellite user downlink antenna. Receives outbound link downlink signals transmitted over the port.

The routing subsystem in the satellite includes a flexible arrangement of unprocessed signal paths that couples the uplink antenna ports with the downlink antenna ports via the uplink path selector and the downlink path selector. For example, a particular configuration of uplink and downlink path selectors can effectively form the corresponding set of signal paths between each uplink and downlink port of the antenna (s) at a time. , The configuration can be dynamically reconstructed at different times (eg, in orbit) to form different corresponding pairs of signal paths. The routing subsystem has outbound and / or inbound simulcast modes that, when active, combine at least one of the uplink antenna ports with multiple downlink antenna ports to combine one or more. A simulcast signal path can be formed. For example, in the outbound simulcast mode, a single gateway uplink signal from a single gateway beam can be simulcast as multiple user downlink signals to multiple user beams.

The present disclosure will be described in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

A block diagram of an embodiment of a satellite communication system according to various embodiments is shown.

Shown is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary satellite for various embodiments.

FIG. 3 shows a simplified block diagram of a portion of a satellite characterized by an exemplary implementation of an input subsystem, according to various embodiments. FIG. 3 shows a simplified block diagram of a portion of a satellite characterized by an exemplary implementation of an input subsystem, according to various embodiments.

A simplified block diagram of a portion of a satellite featuring an exemplary output subsystem, according to various embodiments, is shown.

Shown is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary satellite communication system, wherein the routing subsystem according to various embodiments includes a routing switch and a divider-combiner network.

Shown is a simplified block diagram of another exemplary satellite communication system, wherein the routing subsystem according to various embodiments includes a routing switch and a divider-combiner network.

Shown is a simplified block diagram of an exemplary satellite communication system, wherein the routing subsystem according to various embodiments includes a power divider and a routing switch as well as a divider-combiner network.

FIG. 6 shows a simplified block diagram of an exemplary satellite communication system, wherein the routing subsystem according to various embodiments includes a routing switch and a power combiner.

FIG. 6 shows a simplified block diagram of another exemplary satellite communication system, wherein the routing subsystem according to various embodiments includes a routing switch and a power combiner.

An exemplary beam layout of a satellite communication system, such as that described herein, is shown.

A flow diagram of an exemplary method for flexible intrasatellite routing of communications between multiple fixed spot beams according to various embodiments is shown.

In the accompanying drawings, similar components and / or features can have the same reference label. In addition, various components of the same type can be distinguished by following a reference label with a second label that distinguishes among similar components. If only the first reference label is used herein, the description is applicable to any one of the similar components having the same first reference label, regardless of the second reference label. Is.

In the following description, a number of specific details are provided to provide a complete understanding of the present invention. However, one of ordinary skill in the art should be aware that the present invention can be practiced without these specific details. In some examples, the circuits, structures, and techniques are not shown in detail to avoid obscuring the invention.

First, referring to FIG. 1, a block diagram of an embodiment of the satellite communication system 100 according to various embodiments is shown. The satellite communication system 100 includes a ground segment network 150 that communicates with a plurality of user terminals 110 via a space segment (one or more satellites 105). The ground segment network 150 can include any suitable number of ground terminals. As used herein, the term "terrestrial" generally includes parts of the network that are not in "space." For example, embodiments of ground terminals can include mobile aircraft terminals and the like. The terrestrial terminal can include a gateway terminal 165, a core node 170, a network operations center (NOC), a satellite and a gateway terminal command center, and / or any other suitable node. The user terminal 110 may be part of the ground segment network 150 of the satellite communication system 100, but they are discussed separately herein for clarity. Although not shown, each user terminal 110 connects to various customer premises equipment (CPE) devices such as computers, local area networks (including, for example, hubs or routers), internet equipment, wireless networks, and the like. be able to. In some embodiments, the user terminal 110 comprises a fixed and mobile user terminal 110.

Some embodiments are implemented as a hub-spoke architecture in which all communications pass through at least one gateway terminal 165. For example, communication from the first user terminal 110 to the second user terminal 110 is from the first user terminal 110 to the gateway 165 via the satellite 105, and from the gateway 165 to the second user terminal via the satellite 105. It can be passed to 110. Therefore, the communication can be considered to come from or go to the gateway terminal 165. Other embodiments allow, for example, communication from the user terminal 110 to itself (eg, as loopback communication) and / or to one or more other user terminals 110 without passing through the gateway terminal 165. It can be implemented in other architectures, including one.

Communication coming from one or more gateway terminals 165 is referred to herein as "outbound" or "outbound link" communication, and communications destined for one or more gateway terminals (eg, from user terminal 110) are referred to herein. In the book, it is called "return route" or "return link" communication. Communication from the ground (eg, gateway terminal 165 and user terminal 110) to space (eg, satellite 105) is referred to herein as "uplink" communication, and communication from space to the ground is referred to herein. In, it is called "downlink" communication. In that language, the gateway terminal 165 can communicate with the satellite 105 via the outbound uplink channel 172 via one or more gateway antennas 145, and the inbound downlink through one or more gateway antennas 145. Communication can be received from the satellite 105 via the link channel 174, the user terminal 110 can communicate with the satellite 105 via the return uplink channel 178 via the user antenna 115, and those users. Communication can be received from the satellite 105 via the outbound downlink channel 176 via the antenna 115.

The gateway terminal 165 may also be referred to as a hub or ground station. The gateway terminal 165 is typically in a fixed position, but some implementations can include a mobile gateway. The ground segment network 150 can distribute the functions of the ground segment among various components. For example, geographically dispersed core nodes 170 communicate with the Internet 175 (and / or other public and / or private networks) and communicate with each other via a fast, high throughput, reliable terrestrial backbone network. .. Core node 170 has enhanced routing, queuing, scheduling, and / or other functions. Each gateway terminal 165 communicates with one or more core nodes 170 (eg, redundantly). The group of user terminals 110 is serviced by a plurality of gateway terminals 165 via satellite 105 and user beams. Therefore, the return link communication from the user terminal 110 to the Internet is from the user terminal to the satellite 105 via the user beam, from the satellite 105 to the plurality of gateway terminals 165 via each gateway beam, and the terrestrial segment network 150. It is possible to communicate from the gateway terminal 165 to one or more core nodes 170 via the backbone network and from one or more core nodes 170 to the Internet 175 via the backbone network. Similarly, outbound link communication from the Internet to the user terminal arrives at the core node 170 via the backbone network, is delivered to one or more gateway terminals 165 via the terrestrial segment network 150, and 1 via the satellite 105. It is possible to communicate with the user terminal 110 from one or more gateway terminals.

Although illustrated as the Internet 175, the terrestrial segment network 150 is any suitable type of network, such as an IP network, an intranet, a wide-area network (WAN), a local-area network, It can communicate with LAN), virtual private network (VPN), public land mobile network (PSTN), public land mobile network, and the like. The network can include various types of connections such as wired, wireless, optical, or other types of links. The network can also connect the components of the ground segment network 150 to each other and / or to another ground segment network 150 (eg, communicating with another satellite 105).

In some embodiments, the gateway terminal 165 communicates with the ground scheduling controller (GSC) 172. The GSC 172 can be implemented as one of the core nodes 170, as a port on one or more gateway terminals 165, or otherwise as part of the ground segment network 150. Embodiments of GSC172 can provide ground-based support for the various features of satellite 105 described herein. For example, some embodiments of GSC172 are by scheduling which traffic is sent to which gateway terminal 165 when and according to a routing schedule (eg, known by both GSC172 and satellite 105). Outbound link traffic to terminal 110 can be scheduled. The GSC172 considers, for example, terrestrial terminal geography (eg, the geographic location of gateway terminal 165 and user terminal 110), beam capacitance (eg, the amount of traffic sourced or synced by each beam), and / or other factors. By doing so, it is possible to generate scheduling information for allocating capacity over satellite 105 coverage. In some cases, the GSC172 determines and implements scheduling to achieve specific objectives, such as flexible allocation of outbound and inbound link capacities, flexible allocation of monocast and simulcast capacities, etc. can do. Such scheduling can also include determining which traffic can be simulcast (eg, for simultaneous transmission over multiple downlink beams), and scheduling traffic accordingly. .. As described herein, embodiments of satellite 105 generate control signals that reconfigure path selectors (eg, switches), channel filters, frequency converters, and / or other components of the signal path. Thereby, dynamic rerouting can be performed, and some embodiments of GSC172 can generate and communicate their control signals to satellite 105 (eg, or else satellite 105). Can provide satellite 105 with information from which can derive those control signals). Some examples of techniques for generating such scheduling information and implementing such scheduling in satellite communication systems are described by ViaSat, Inc. It is described in US Pat. No. 8,542,629, entitled "Interference management in a hub-spoke spot beam communication system", which is hereby incorporated by reference for all purposes. Is incorporated into.

Satellite 105 can support a large number of spot beams that together provide a large covering area for all of user terminal 110 and gateway terminal 165. Different carrier frequencies, polarizations, and / or timings can be used to reduce inter-beam interference and / or facilitate frequency reuse. In some embodiments, satellite 105 illuminates the covering region with a fixed spot beam. For example, satellite 105 is designed so that each spot beam has a fixed size (eg, fixed beam width, fixed 3 dB cross section to the earth, etc.) and illuminates a fixed geographic area of the earth. Each gateway antenna 145 and user antenna 115 may include a reflector having high directivity in the direction of satellite 105 and low directivity in the other direction. Antennas can be implemented in a variety of configurations and can include features such as high separation between orthogonal polarizations, high efficiency in the operating frequency band, low noise, and so on. In one embodiment, the user antenna 115 and the user terminal 110 both constitute a very small aperture terminal (VSAT) and include an antenna 115 having a suitable size and having a suitable power amplifier. In other embodiments, various other types of antennas 115 are used to communicate with satellite 105. Each antenna can point to satellite 105 and can be tuned to a particular carrier (and / or polarization, etc.). The satellite 105 can include one or more fixed focus directional antennas for receiving and transmitting signals. For example, directional antennas include fixed reflectors with one or more feed horns for each spot beam. Other embodiments of satellite 105 include maneuverable beams (eg, antennas that can be turned in orbit using gimbals), beamformers, defocused beams, and / or other types. It can be implemented using a beam.

As used herein, a beam feed is a single feed element for generating and / or forming a spot beam, or generally any suitable antenna element or group of elements (eg, feed horn, antenna feed). Can refer to a cluster, etc.). Each spot beam can refer to any suitable type of beam that provides uplink and / or downlink communication (eg, focused spot beam, maneuverable beam, etc.). In practice, uplink and downlink beams can be generated with separate feeds, feed groups, different port configurations, and / or any other suitable mode. In one implementation, in a geographic area (eg, spot beam covering area), the user uplink beam communicates in a particular uplink frequency band (eg, 27.5-30 GHz) and the user downlink beam is specific. Communicate in the downlink frequency band (eg, 17.7 to 20.2 GHz) to avoid interference between the inbound channel uplink and outbound channel downlink traffic. In some implementations, the gateway terminal 165 and / or the user terminal 110 can support communication over different beams and / or at different frequencies, polarizations, etc., with multiple antennas, tuning components, and others. Can have the function of. In certain embodiments, different beams are associated with different transmit and / or receive powers, different carrier frequencies, different polarizations, and so on. For example, a particular spot beam can have a fixed position and can support user uplink traffic, user downlink traffic, gateway up traffic, and gateway down traffic, each with a different carrier / polarization combination. ..

The contour of the spot beam produced by satellite 105 can be partially determined by a particular antenna design and depends on factors such as the position of the feed horn with respect to the reflector, the size of the reflector, the type of feed horn, etc. Can be done. The contour of each spot beam on the earth can generally have a conical shape (eg, circular or elliptical) and illuminates the spot beam covering region for both transmit and receive operations. The spot beam can irradiate terminals on or above the surface of the earth (eg, aerial user terminals, etc.). In some embodiments, directional antennas are used to form a fixed position spot beam (or a spot beam associated with substantially the same spot beam covering region over time). A particular embodiment of satellite 105 operates in multiple spot beam modes and receives and transmits multiple signals in different spot beams. Each individual spot beam can provide services to both the gateway terminal 165, a large number of user terminals 110, the gateway terminal 165 and a large number of user terminals 110, and the like. Each spot beam has a single carrier (ie, one carrier frequency), a continuous frequency range (ie, one or more carrier frequencies), or multiple frequency ranges (one or more carrier frequencies in each frequency range). ) Can be used. Some embodiments of the satellite 105 are unprocessed (eg, non-regenerative), so that signal manipulation by the satellite 105 provides functions such as frequency conversion, polarization conversion, filtering, amplification, etc. , Data demodulation and / or modulation, error correction decoding and / or coding, header decoding and / or routing, etc. are omitted.

Over time, there has been a sharp increase in user demand for data volume and speed, which has driven a sharp increase in demand for communication system resources such as bandwidth. However, the satellite communication system 100 typically has a limited frequency spectrum available for communication, with gateway power outages, weather conditions, changes in demand over time, and other conditions. , That limited spectrum can affect how it is transformed into the provision of communications services over time. By various techniques, such as by geographically separating the gateway terminal 165 from the user terminal 110 and / or by implementing a spot beam to use the same, overlapping, or different frequencies, polarizations, etc. Frequency reuse can be facilitated. However, fixed satellite designs (eg, fixed allocation of resources across beams, fixed associations between gateways and serviced user beams, fixed signal paths through satellites, etc.) are of available spectrum and other satellite resources. It tends to be inefficient or otherwise suboptimal.

The embodiments of the satellite communication system 100 described herein are designed to support high throughput (eg, data rates of one terabit or higher) while being robust and flexible. For example, satellite 105 can communicate with a particular gateway terminal 165 via a particular gateway beam and with a particular user terminal 110 via a particular user beam, but the flexible intrasatellite path is in orbit. The gateway and user beam can be coupled in a manner that can be dynamically reconfigured above. Such dynamic reconfiguration allows flexible allocation of resources between gateways and user beams, thereby allowing flexible allocation of resources between outbound and inbound link communications. Robustness and flexibility can be provided by enabling cast and simulcast pathways and / or otherwise.

FIG. 2 shows a simplified block diagram of an exemplary satellite 200 for various embodiments. The satellite 200 may be an implementation of the satellite 105 of FIG. As shown, the satellite 200 has an antenna subsystem 203 (eg, a fixed spot beam antenna sub) having a number of gateway beam feeds 205 associated with the gateway spot beam and a user beam feed 207 associated with the user spot beam. System) is included. In general, each spot beam illuminates a covering region of the spot beam, whereby a ground terminal located in the covering region of the spot beam can communicate with the satellite 200 via the spot beam. Certain beams, beam feeds, and other elements are referred to as "users" or "gateways," but some embodiments allow the user terminal 110 to communicate via gateway beams and beam feeds. And / or allow the gateway terminal 165 to communicate via the gateway beam and beam feed. The beam feed can include uplink antenna port 201 and downlink antenna port 202. For example, each gateway beam feed 205 can include a gateway uplink antenna port and / or a gateway downlink antenna port, and each user beam feed 207 includes a user uplink antenna port and / or a user downlink antenna port. be able to. The term "port" or "antenna port" generally refers herein to any suitable interface with a beam feed that allows signal communication. The term "uplink antenna port" can generally refer herein to a gateway uplink antenna port and / or a user uplink antenna port (eg, for outbound and inbound link signals, respectively) and "down". The term "link antenna port" can generally refer herein to a gateway downlink antenna port and / or a user downlink antenna port (eg, with respect to inbound link and outbound link signals, respectively). As mentioned above, the feed can generally refer to any suitable antenna element or group of elements. For brevity, the embodiment is described as using a particular beam feed to generate the corresponding spot beam, where the beam feed uplink antenna port 201 and downlink antenna port 202 respectively have corresponding spots. Supports uplink and downlink traffic over the beam.

Embodiments of satellite 200 further include an input subsystem 210 and an output subsystem 230 that communicate via the routing subsystem 250. The route selection subsystem 250 includes a large number of gateway uplink route selectors (GUPS) 215, gateway downlink route selector (GDPS) 220, user uplink route selector (UPS) 217, and user downlink route selector (UDPS) 222. Can include. Each input subsystem 210 can be coupled between its respective uplink antenna port 201 and the routing subsystem 250. For example, each of the first subsets of input subsystems 210a-210j is coupled between each gateway uplink port and each GUPS215, and each of the second subsets of input subsystems 210j + 1-210j + k is each It is coupled between the user uplink port of and each UUPS217. Each output subsystem 230 can be coupled between the routing subsystem 250 and its respective downlink antenna port. For example, each of the first subsets of output subsystems 230a-230j is coupled between their respective gateway downlink ports and their respective GDPS 220, and each of the second subsets of output subsystems 230j + 1-230j + k, respectively. Is coupled between the user downlink port of the system and each UDPS222.

GUPS215, GDPS220, UDPS217, and UDPS222 can be reconfigurable to each other. For example, each GUPS215 can selectively bind to any one or more GDPS220 and / or UDPS222 at a time, and each UPS217 may selectively bind to any one or more GDPS220 at a time. it can. In some embodiments, each UUPS217 (or only one or a portion of UUPS217) can be selectively combined with one or more GDPS220 and / or other UDPS222 at a time. In other implementations, each UUPS217 (or only one or a portion of UUPS217) is coupled to a corresponding user beam feed 207 (via their respective output subsystems 230) with one or more GDPS 220 and / or 1 It can be selectively combined with one UDPS222. For example, the UUPS 217a is illustrated so that the user uplink port of the user beam feed 207a can be configured to be coupled to the user downlink port of the user beam feed 207a via the UDPS 222a.

The routing subsystem 250 is designed to be reconfigurable for any suitable control input. The embodiment is route scheduling that directs the reconfiguration of the route selection subsystem 250 by setting some or all of the route selectors (eg, GUPS215, GDPS220, UDPS217, and UDPS222) to form a non-processed signal path. Includes controller 260. For example, the route scheduling controller 260 can send a control signal to the switching component of the route selector, which in response to such a control signal sends a specific input to the route selector with a specific output. Can be combined. The routing controller 260 can be implemented as part of the routing subsystem 250 or as a component that communicates with the routing subsystem 250 in any other suitable manner. Embodiments of the routing controller 260 are implemented as one or more processors and can include or communicate with the datastore 240. The datastore 240 can be implemented as any one or more suitable memory devices such as non-transitory computer-readable media. Some embodiments of the datastore 240 may include instructions that, when executed, can cause the routing scheduling controller 260 (eg, one or more processors) to direct the reconfiguration of the routing subsystem 250. .. As described herein, some embodiments of the datastore 240 are stored on it for each of the plurality of time frames of the routing subsystem 250 (eg, one of the unprocessed signal paths). It has one or more routing schedules 242 that define a particular configuration (part or all). Embodiments of the route scheduling controller 260 can be used before and after the satellite 200 is deployed. For example, the route scheduling controller 260 can direct the orbital reconfiguration of the route selection subsystem 250 (ie, after satellite 200 has been deployed). The orbital reconstruction can be performed according to a route selection schedule 242 stored in datastore 240 prior to deployment of satellite 200 and / or received by satellite 200 and stored in datastore 240 after deployment.

In one embodiment, the route scheduling controller 260 can receive control information (eg, from a gateway terminal via gateway uplink traffic), where the control information is an uplink route selector and / or a downlink route selector. It is possible to show how and when to reconstruct. The received control information can be included in and / or used by the route scheduling controller 260 to derive one or more route selection schedules 242 that can be stored in the data store 240 on satellite 105. obtain. In some implementations, control information is received on the control channel (eg, as part of a Telemetry, Tracking and Command (TT & C) signal received by a satellite). In other implementations, control information is received from the gateway terminal via gateway uplink traffic, and control information is tagged (eg, using packet headers, preambles, or any other suitable technique. It is distinguishable from other data in the outbound link traffic. Alternatively or additionally, one or more routing schedules 242 can be stored in the data store 240 prior to deploying the satellite 200. For example, some embodiments may include a pre-deployment stored route selection schedule 242, which adjusts, updates, and / or adjusts, updates, and / or while the satellite 200 is in orbit. Can be exchanged.

The route selection schedule 242 can be generated in any suitable manner. For example, the configuration can be defined for framed hub spokes with time slots, beam exchange path access protocols, such as the Satellite Switched Time-Division Multiple Access (SS / TDMA) scheme. it can. In such protocols, a "slot" or "time slot" can refer to the minimum time division for switching, and a "frame" can refer to a set of slots (eg, of a given length). , Thereby, the route selection schedule 242 can define the configuration of the elements of the route selection subsystem 250 for each slot, each frame, and the like. In some embodiments, during normal operation, continuous frame streams are used to facilitate communication, and multiplexing and multiple access techniques (eg, Time-Division Multiplexing (TDM)), Time-Division Multiple Access (TDMA), Frequency-Division Multiple Access (FDMA), Mult-Frequency Time-Division Multiple Access (MF-TDMA), Code A division multiple access (Code-Division Multiple Access, CDMA), etc.) can be used to serve multiple terminals during each time slot. For example, the outbound link time slot can be divided into a plurality of "subslots", and transmission to different user terminals or user terminal groups is performed in each subslot. Similarly, the return link time slot may be divided into multiple subslots, which can be reserved for network control or signaling information (eg, communication of scheduling information). In addition, at any particular time according to the routing schedule 242, the routing subsystem 250 can be configured with monocast and / or simulcast signal paths to allow for additional flexibility. In some embodiments, the plurality of route selection schedules 242 can be used to handle specific situations such as gateway terminal power outages, periodic temporal changes in demand, and the like.

As an example, in a first time frame (eg, a switching frame defined by a stored switching schedule), the routing subsystem 250 is active coupled between GUPS215a and UDPS222a and between UPS217a and GDPS220a. (Ignore other active joins for brevity). In this configuration, the routing subsystem 250 comprises a first unprocessed outbound signal path that provides connectivity between the first gateway beam and the first user beam, and a first user beam and a first user beam. Includes a first unprocessed return signal path that provides connectivity to and from the gateway beam. For example, outbound uplink traffic is received from the gateway terminal within the first gateway beam by the uplink port of the gateway beam feed 205a and includes the input subsystem 210a, GUPS215a, UDPS222a, and the output subsystem 230j + 1. It traverses the unprocessed outbound signal path and is transmitted as outbound downlink traffic from the downlink port of the user beam feed 207a to the user terminal in the first user beam. Similarly, the return uplink traffic is received from the user terminal within the first user beam by the uplink port of the user beam feed 207a and includes the input subsystem 210j + 1, UUPS217a, GDPS220a, and the output subsystem 230a. It is transmitted as inbound downlink traffic from the downlink port of the gateway beam feed 205a to the gateway in the first gateway beam across the unprocessed inbound signal path of. In the second time frame, the routing subsystem 250 is reconfigured so that there is an active bond between GUPS215a and UDPS222k and between UPS217a and GDPS220j (for simplification, other Ignore active joins). In this second configuration, the first outbound and inbound unprocessed signal paths no longer exist. Instead, the routing subsystem 250 provides a second unprocessed outbound signal path that provides connectivity between the first gateway beam and the second user beam, and a first user beam and a second gateway. Includes a second unprocessed return signal path, which provides connectivity to and from the beam. For example, outbound uplink traffic is received from the gateway terminal within the first gateway beam by the uplink port of the gateway beam feed 205a and includes a second subsystem 210a, GUPS215a, UDPS222k, and an output subsystem 230j + k. It crosses the unprocessed outbound signal path and is transmitted as outbound downlink traffic from the downlink port of the user beam feed 207k to the user terminal in the second user beam. Similarly, the return uplink traffic is received from the user terminal within the first user beam by the uplink port of the user beam feed 207a and includes a second subsystem 210j + 1, UUPS217a, GDPS220j, and an output subsystem 230j. It crosses the unprocessed return signal path and is transmitted as return downlink traffic from the downlink port of the gateway beam feed 205j to the gateway in the second gateway beam.

Embodiments of the routing subsystem 250 include one or more simulcast modes. In some such embodiments, when outbound simulcast mode is active, the routing subsystem 250 assigns one of the gateway uplink antenna ports to a multiple downlink antenna port (eg, multiple user downlink). It is configured to include at least one outbound simulcast signal path that couples with the antenna port). For example, such a configuration can provide simulcast connectivity between one gateway terminal and user terminals in multiple user beams. Such a configuration can provide a large number of features. As an example, assume that the same data is transmitted (eg, broadcast) to a user terminal in a plurality of user beams serviced by a plurality of different gateway terminals. In a conventional satellite system, such transmission may involve sending a copy of the data to each of the plurality of gateway terminals, whereby the plurality of copies reach multiple user beams across the satellite link. A single copy of the data can be sent to a single gateway terminal using the outbound simulcast mode described herein, and the outbound simulcast signal path can be used to signal gateway uplink signals. Can be simulcast to multiple user beams.

In other such embodiments, when the return simulcast mode is active, the route selection subsystem 250 couples at least one return simul that couples one of the user uplink antenna ports with the multiple downlink antenna ports. It is configured to include a cast signal path. For example, such a configuration can provide simulcast connectivity between one user terminal and multiple gateways and / or user terminals in multiple beams. Some embodiments of the routing subsystem 250 include a simulcast mode that provides connectivity from multiple transmit beams to a single receive beam. In one such embodiment, the routing subsystem 250 is configured to include at least one outbound signal path that combines multiple gateway uplink antenna ports with a single user downlink antenna port. Serve users within a single user beam using gateways from multiple gateway beams. In another such embodiment, the routing subsystem 250 is configured to include at least one return signal path that combines multiple user uplink antenna ports with a single gateway antenna port, thereby simply. A single gateway is used to receive return link communications from user terminals within multiple user beams. For example, each user uplink antenna port can receive its own user uplink signal in different frequency subranges (ie, the subranges do not overlap) with different user uplink frequency ranges.

The elements of the routing subsystem 250 can be implemented in any suitable manner to provide dynamically configurable unprocessed signal paths. In some embodiments, each uplink path selector (each GUPS215 and UUPS217) is coupled to each one of the uplink antenna ports (eg, via each one of the input subsystem 210). An uplink path selector input 214 can be included, with each downlink path selector (each GDPS 220 and UDPS 222) via each one of the downlink antenna ports and (eg, each of the output subsystem 230). Can include a combined downlink route selector output. Each uplink route selector can also include multiple uplink route selector outputs 216, each downlink route selector can also include multiple downlink route selector inputs 221 and each uplink route selector output. The 216 is coupled to each one of the downlink path selector inputs 221 (eg, directly or via an intermediate coupler, as described below). The coupling between the uplink path selector output 216 and the downlink path selector input 221 can be fixed so that the signal path reconstruction is of the uplink path selector output 216 and the downlink path selector input 221. Can involve activating and / or deactivating the selected one of. As described in more detail below, in some embodiments, it is possible to implement an uplink path selector and / or a downlink path selector as a switch, thereby activating a particular input or output. With switching (or switching on) to input or output. In another embodiment, the uplink path selector or the downlink path selector is implemented as a power divider or power combiner, respectively, whereby multiple inputs or outputs are activated simultaneously, and selective activation of a particular coupling is performed. With switching on the other side of the bond or other suitable choice.

As described in more detail below, embodiments of the input subsystem 210 are for facilitating the reception of the uplink signal and / or for preparing the signal for processing by the routing subsystem 250. Any suitable element can be included and embodiments of the output subsystem 230 are for facilitating the transmission of the downlink signal and / or for preparing the signal after processing by the routing subsystem 250. Any suitable element can be included. For example, the input subsystem 210 and the output subsystem 230 may include amplifiers, filters, converters, and / or other components. In various embodiments, the frequency converter may be included in the input subsystem 210 and / or the output subsystem 230. In such an embodiment, the frequency converter in the input subsystem 210 converts the received uplink signal from the received uplink frequency band to the transmitted downlink frequency band, where the conversion is route selection subsystem 250. Implemented prior to, thereby designing the routing subsystem 250 to operate in the downlink frequency band. In another such embodiment, the frequency converter in the output subsystem 230 converts the received uplink signal from the received uplink frequency band to the transmitted downlink frequency band, the conversion being the routing subsystem. Implemented after 250, the routing subsystem 250 is designed to operate in the uplink frequency band. In yet another such embodiment, the frequency converter in the input subsystem 210 moves the received uplink signal from the received uplink frequency band to an intermediate frequency band (eg, up) before the routing subsystem 250. The downlink frequency band that converts to (frequency bands below both the link and downlink frequency bands) and transmits the uplink signal from the intermediate frequency band after the routing subsystem 250 in the output subsystem 230. The routing subsystem 250 is designed to operate in the intermediate frequency band.

3A and 3B show simplified block diagrams of a portion of satellite 300 characterized by an exemplary implementation of the input subsystem 210 according to various embodiments. A portion of satellite 300 may be a portion of satellite 200 of FIG. To avoid overly complicating the illustration, GUPS215 and UUPS217 are generally shown as uplink path selectors 340, and gateway beam feed 205 and user beam feed 207 are generally shown as feed 310. First, with reference to FIG. 3A, each uplink path selector 340 is coupled to each feed 310 via their respective input subsystem 210. The input subsystems 210 are separated from each other, each containing at least a low-noise amplifier (LNA) 320. For example, the uplink signal is received by one of the feeds 310, amplified by the LNA 320 of each input subsystem 210, and passed to each uplink path selector 340 of the routing subsystem 250.

In some embodiments, the routing subsystem 250 (or, alternative, each input subsystem 210) can include a channel filter 330, as illustrated. Each channel filter 330 may be tuneable, selectable, and / or otherwise adjustable before deploying the satellite and / or when the satellite is in orbit. For example, although the routing controller 260 is shown as part of the routing subsystem 250, some embodiments of the routing controller 260 may be part of the channel filter 330 and / or the signal path. Control signals for adjusting the components can be provided (ie, these components can respond to such control signals). The channel filter 330 can be used to provide a variety of features.

For illustration purposes, FIG. 10 shows an exemplary beam layout 1000 for a satellite communication system, such as that described herein. The illustrated beam layout has overlapping fixed spot beams with multiple colors (carrier frequencies). In the context of such a layout, the channel filter 330 is a bandpass filter used to filter noise and / or signals from other than a particular color of the beam associated with each feed 310 of its signal path. can do. In one exemplary implementation, the beam map can include 240 large beams and 120 gateway terminals 165. Each of the 120 gateway terminals 165 can support 240 feeder links, each having a throughput of about 3.5 Gbit / s (Gbps), resulting in a total system throughput of about 840 Gbps. In another exemplary implementation, the beammap comprises 384 beams, including 128 dual pole beams for communicating with gateway terminal 165 and 256 single pole beams for communicating with user terminal 110. Can include. Such a configuration can support 512 signal paths (eg, transponders) and provide a total system throughput of approximately 987 Gbps.

Returning to FIG. 3A, as an example, a channel filter 330 can be used to mitigate the retransmission of uplink noise received from uplink frequencies not used by its signal path (eg, from other beam colors). .. As another example, frequency reuse schemes (eg, time division multiplexing, frequency division multiplexing, etc.) and / or other techniques allow for flexible deployment of gateway terminals 165 (eg, different layouts, different geographies). Static or dynamic beam color assignments can be used (for different orbit slots, etc.), and the channel filter 330 statically or dynamically tunes the unprocessed signal path to their respective frequencies of interest. can do. The channel filter 330 is illustrated on the input side of the routing subsystem 250, but other implementations may optionally or additionally include the channel filter 330 on the output side of the routing subsystem 250. it can.

With reference to FIG. 3B, each uplink path selector 340 is coupled to each feed 310 via their respective input subsystem 210, as in FIG. 3A. Unlike FIG. 3A, the input subsystem 210 of FIG. 3B may be selectively coupled together by a failover switch 315. In some embodiments, the failover switch 315 includes a fast ferrite switch and can dynamically operate at any suitable duty cycle to provide the desired failover functionality. The illustrated embodiment shows a single failover switch 315 that provides selective failover functionality for a pair of input subsystems 210. However, embodiments may include any suitable number of failover switches 315 (eg, one for each pair of input subsystems 210), and the failover switch 315 may include any suitable number of input subs. You can choose between systems 210 (eg, vs, 3, etc.). Embodiments of failover switch 315 can include normal mode and failover mode. Failover mode can be used, for example, if there is a problem with the gateway terminal 165 (eg, a temporary or permanent gateway power outage, etc.), or if there is a problem with one or more satellite components (eg, feed 310). It can be activated if there are any other reasons why it is desirable not to use a particular input subsystem 210. In normal mode, the input subsystem 210 can operate effectively as shown in FIG. 3A. For example, when the failover switch 315a is in normal mode, the uplink path selector 340a is coupled to the feed 310a via the LNA320a and the uplink path selector 340b is coupled to the feed 310b via the LNA320b. In failover mode, the failover switch 315 bypasses at least one of the input subsystems 210 to which it is attached. For example, when the failover switch 315a is in failover mode, the uplink path selector 340a is coupled to the feed 310b via the LNA320b, or the uplink path selector 340b is coupled to the feed 310a via the LNA320a. To.

FIG. 4 shows a simplified block diagram of a portion of satellite 400 featuring an exemplary output subsystem 230, according to various embodiments. A portion of satellite 400 may be a portion of satellite 200 of FIG. To avoid overly complicating the illustration, the gateway beam feed 205 and the user beam feed 207 are generally shown as feed 310. As described with reference to FIG. 3A, some implementations may include channel filters 330 on the output side of the routing subsystem 250, which channel filters 330 are one of the routing subsystems 250. It can be implemented as a unit or as part of the output subsystem 230. Although four output subsystems 230 are illustrated, embodiments can include any suitable number of output subsystems 230 (eg, combined with each downlink path selector).

In some embodiments, the output subsystem 230 is one or more multiports that provide various features, such as facilitating sharing of high frequency power in the satellite 105 payload between several beams and / or ports. Implemented as an amplifier. As shown, a particular component may be shared by multiple output subsystems 230. Embodiments can include one or more N-port Butler matrices that can be shared by N output subsystems 230. For example, the first 4-port butler matrix 410 is shared by the four output subsystems 230 to provide flexible power distribution between beams (eg, and / or tolerate performance degradation after failure is detected. And the planar waveguide assembly 430 can be integrated with a second Butler matrix 430 and can be shared by four output subsystems 230. Each output subsystem 230 can also include a power amplifier 420 (eg, a high frequency solid state power amplifier, or RF SSPA), which couples between the Butler matrices 410, 430, or in any other suitable manner. be able to.

As described with reference to FIG. 2, embodiments of the route selection subsystem 250 can be implemented in various ways. 5 to 9 show simplified block diagrams of various exemplary satellite communication systems. In each of FIGS. 5-9, satellite 200 is shown as providing connectivity between terrestrial terminals 505, including gateway terminals and user terminals. Uplink traffic from the terrestrial terminal 505 (for example, outbound uplink traffic from the gateway terminal and inbound uplink traffic from the user terminal) is received via the uplink beam 515 and downlink traffic from the terrestrial terminal 505 (for example, For example, the outbound downlink traffic to the user terminal and the inbound downlink traffic to the gateway terminal) are transmitted via the downlink beam 540. The routing subsystem 250 effectively provides dynamically reconfigurable connectivity between the uplink beam 515 and the downlink beam 540 via a dynamically reconfigurable non-processed signal path. As mentioned above, the signal path includes an input subsystem 210 and an output subsystem 230 that combine the path selection subsystem 250 with the uplink and downlink antenna ports of one or more of the antenna systems of the satellite 200. Can include. Although not explicitly shown, as described with reference to FIG. 2, embodiments of the routing subsystem 250 have data having one or more routing schedules 242 stored on it. Includes store 240. In some embodiments, the control signal can be received while the satellite 200 is in orbit to modify one or more of the stored route selection schedules 242.

FIG. 5 shows a simplified block diagram of an exemplary satellite communication system 500, wherein the route selection subsystem 250, including a route selection switch and divider-combiner network 525, according to various embodiments. The route selection subsystem 250 includes an uplink route selector implemented as an uplink (1: N + 1) switch 522, a downlink route selector implemented as a downlink (N + 1: 1) switch 524, and a divider-combiner network (N). : N) 525, and the like. Various embodiments are described herein with reference to switches and networks. As used herein, a "1: M switch" is generally a device, or group of devices, that selectively combines a single input to one or only one of the M outputs. "M: 1 switch" generally refers to a device, or group of devices, that selectively combines one and only one of the M inputs into a single output. A "M: M divider-combiner network" is generally a device or device that divides each of the M inputs into M copies and combines each copy of each of the M inputs with M outputs. Refers to a group, whereby all M inputs are effectively combined with all M outputs. As mentioned above, embodiments can send control signals to uplink switches 522 and downlink switches 524 to achieve the desired configuration of unprocessed signal paths (eg, according to a route selection schedule 242). Includes scheduling controller 260.

The uplink switch 522 may be an implementation of GUPS 215 and / or UUPS 217 of FIG. 2, and the downlink switch 524 may be an implementation of GDPS 220 and / or UDPS 222 of FIG. As shown, each uplink switch 522 has an uplink switch input (eg, an input port, or any suitable input) coupled to each uplink antenna port of the antenna feed via its respective input subsystem 210. Each uplink switch 522 can also have N + 1 uplink switch outputs (eg, an output port, or any suitable output coupling). Each downlink switch 524 can have a downlink switch output coupled to each downlink antenna port of the antenna feed via its respective output subsystem 230, and each downlink switch 524 can also have N + 1 pcs. It can have a downlink switch input. In FIGS. 5-9, specific features such as uplink antenna port 201, downlink antenna port 202, datastore 240, etc. are not shown to avoid overly complicating the illustration. Each of the N uplink switch outputs is coupled with a corresponding downlink switch input of each of the downlink switches 524. For example, the first uplink switch output of each of the N uplink switches 522 is combined with the corresponding one of the N downlink switch inputs of the first downlink switch 524a to provide N uplinks. Each second uplink switch output of the link switch 522 is coupled with the corresponding one of the N downlink switch inputs of the second downlink switch 524b, etc.

As shown, each uplink switch 522 has N + 1 outputs, of which N (referred to herein as monocast outputs) are each different of the N downlink switches 524. Combined directly into one, the additional output (referred to herein as Simulcast output) is combined with the divider-combiner network 525. Similarly, each downlink switch 524 has N + 1 inputs, of which N (referred to herein as monocast inputs) are each different one of the N uplink switches 522. The additional inputs (referred to herein as Simulcast inputs) are combined directly with the divider-combiner network 525. Thus, the divider-combiner network 525 contains N divider-combiner network (DCN) inputs, each directly coupled to its own uplink switch output, and each divider-combiner network 525 contains each Includes N DCN outputs directly coupled to each downlink switch input. A divider-combiner network 525 embodiment can effectively port all its inputs to all its outputs. In some embodiments, the divider-combiner network 525 is a power combiner / divider. For example, the signals received at any one or more of the N DCN inputs are combined and output through all of the N DCN outputs.

The monocast and simulcast outputs can be used to enable monocast and simulcast modes of operation for the routing subsystem 250. For illustration purposes, in the first time frame, the route selection subsystem 250 is configured to include a monocast signal path between the ground terminal 505a and the ground terminal 505b. This may involve switching between the uplink switch 522a and the downlink switch 524b in order to activate the coupling between the uplink switch 522a and the downlink switch 524b (ie, appropriate corresponding to that coupling). By selecting the uplink switch output and the downlink switch input). In the second time frame, the route selection subsystem 250 is configured to include a simulcast signal path between the ground terminals 505a and the ground terminals 505b and 505n. This toggles the uplink switch 522a to activate its simulcast output (thus coupling the uplink switch 522a to the divider-combiner network 525 via the corresponding DCN input) and downlink. Toggle switch 524b and downlink switch 524n to activate their respective simulcast inputs (thus, via their respective DCN outputs, the downlink switch 524b and downlink switch 524n are divided into divider-combiner network 525 Can be accompanied by). In this way, the divider-combiner network 525 has a simulcast signal between both the uplink beam 515 associated with the uplink switch 522a and the downlink beam 540 associated with the downlink switches 524b and 524n. Provide a route.

FIG. 6 shows a simplified block diagram of another exemplary satellite communication system 600, wherein the route selection subsystem 250, including a route selection switch and divider-combiner network 525, according to various embodiments. The system 600 of FIG. 6 is similar to the system 500 of FIG. 5, except that the routing subsystem 250 includes two divider-combiner networks 525, for example, to support two simulcast signal paths simultaneously. Can work. To avoid overly complicating the illustration, only four uplink switches 622, four downlink switches 624, and two divider-combiner networks 525 are shown. However, the techniques described herein can be any suitable number of uplinks to allow, for example, the desired maximum number of monocast signal paths, the desired maximum number of simultaneous simulcast signal paths, and the like. It can be applied using a link switch 622, a downlink switch 624, and a divider-combiner network 525. As shown in FIG. 5, the route scheduling controller 260 can send control signals to the uplink switch 622 and the downlink switch 624 to achieve the desired configuration of the unprocessed signal path (eg, according to the route selection schedule 242). ).

Each of the uplink switches 622 is a 1: N + 2 (1: 6 in the case shown) selector switch, and each of the downlink switches 624 is an N + 2: 1 (6: 1 in the case shown) selector switch. is there. For example, the uplink switch 622 may be an implementation of GUPS215 and / or UPS217 of FIG. 2, and the downlink switch 624 may be an implementation of GDPS220 and / or UDPS222 of FIG. In addition, each of the two divider-combiner networks 525 was implemented using a network of four 2: 2 divider-combiner circuit blocks 627 (eg, hybrid couplers) N: N (4: in the illustrated case). 4) It is illustrated as a divider-combiner network 525. Similar to FIG. 5, each uplink switch 622 can have an uplink switch input coupled to each uplink antenna port 201 of the antenna feed via its respective input subsystem 210, and each uplink switch. The 622 can also have six uplink switch outputs, four coupled directly to their respective downlink switches 624 as monocast outputs, and two coupled to their respective divider-combiner network 525s as simulcast outputs. Will be done. Each downlink switch 624 can have a downlink switch output coupled to each downlink antenna port of the antenna feed via its respective output subsystem 230, and each downlink switch 624 can also have 6 downlinks. It can have link switch inputs, four directly coupled to each uplink switch 622 as monocast inputs and two coupled to each divider-combiner network 525 as simulcast inputs.

Each divider-combiner network 525 contains N divider-combiner network (DCN) inputs, each directly coupled to its own uplink switch simulcast output, and each divider-combiner network 525 has N DCN outputs. Each is directly coupled to its respective downlink switch simulcast input. As shown, each divider-combiner network 525 is composed of four 2: 2 divider-combiner circuit blocks 627. Each divider-combiner circuit block 627 can effectively port all its inputs to all its outputs. For example, signals A and B are received at the first and second inputs, signals A and B are each split (eg, by a power divider), and each split signal A is a respective split signal B. Combined with (eg, by a power combiner), thereby the first combination of the divided signals A and B is seen at the first output and the second combination of the divided signals A and B is the second. Seen in the output of. In such an implementation, if only signal A is present and signal B is absent (ie, only the first input receives the signal and the second input has no signal), then signal A is at both outputs. Effectively repeated. The four divider-combiner circuit blocks 627 are a pair of input divider-combiner circuit blocks 627 (eg, 627aa and 627ab in one divider-combiner network 525a, and 627ba and 627bb in another divider-combiner network 525b). And a pair of output divider-combiner circuit blocks 627 (eg, 627ac and 627ad in the divider-combiner network 525a, and 627bc and 627bd in the divider-combiner network 525b), and each input pair is its divider-combiner network. It is cross-coupled with the output pair in 525. In such a configuration, any signal at the DCN input of a particular divider-combiner network 525 can be passed to any of its output pairs of the divider-combiner circuit block 627, thereby the divider-combiner network 525. Can be passed to any of the DCN outputs of. Therefore, in each divider-combiner network 525, the signals received by any one or more of the N DCN inputs are combined and output through all of the N DCN outputs. In this way, each divider-combiner network 525 simulcasts the uplink signal received by any one of the uplink switches 622 via any two or more of the downlink switches 624 of the simulcast signal path. The configuration can be made possible (eg, as described above with reference to FIG. 5).

FIG. 7 shows a simplified block diagram of an exemplary satellite communication system 700, wherein the routing subsystem 250, according to various embodiments, includes a power divider and a routing switch as well as a divider-combiner network. The routing subsystem 250 includes an uplink path selector implemented as an uplink power divider (PD) 722 and a downlink path selector implemented as a downlink (N: 1) switch 724. For example, the uplink power divider 722 may be an implementation of GUPS215 and / or UUPS217 of FIG. 2, and the downlink switch 724 may be an implementation of GDPS220 and / or UDPS222 of FIG. In some embodiments, the route scheduling controller 260 can send control signals to the downlink switch 724 to achieve the desired configuration of unprocessed signal paths (eg, according to the route selection schedule 242). As shown, each uplink power divider 722 can have an uplink PD input coupled to each uplink antenna port 201 of the antenna feed via its respective input subsystem 210 and each uplink power. The divider 722 can also have N uplink PD outputs. Each downlink switch 724 can have a downlink switch output coupled to each downlink antenna port of the antenna feed via its respective output subsystem 230, and each downlink switch 724 can also have an N number. It can have a downlink switch input. Each of the N uplink PD outputs is coupled with a corresponding downlink switch input of each of the downlink switches 724.

Each uplink power divider 722 operates to receive a signal at the uplink PD input and output the signal at all its uplink PD outputs. Therefore, all uplink signals received by the uplink power divider 722 are output by the uplink power divider 722 to all downlink switches 724, whereby the configuration of the unprocessed signal path is configured on the downlink switch 724. Defined by configuration. For example, the uplink signal from the uplink power divider 722a can be configured to activate the downlink switch 724a to activate one of its inputs coupled to the uplink power divider 722a. Can pass through. Simulcast mode can be enabled by configuring multiple downlink switches 724 to activate their coupling to the same one of the uplink power dividers 722. For example, the uplink signal from the uplink power divider 722a configures the downlink switch 724a to activate one of its inputs coupled to the uplink power divider 722a, and the uplink power divider. Simulcasting can be done through the downlink switch 724a and the downlink switch 724b by configuring the downlink switch 724b to activate one of its inputs coupled to the 722a.

FIG. 8 shows a simplified block diagram of an exemplary satellite communication system 800, wherein the routing subsystem 250, including a routing switch and a power combiner, according to various embodiments. The route selection subsystem 250 includes an uplink route selector implemented as an uplink (1: N) switch 822 and a downlink route selector implemented as a downlink power combiner (PC) 824. For example, the uplink switch 822 may be an implementation of GUPS 215 and / or UUPS 217 of FIG. 2, and the downlink power combiner 824 may be an implementation of GDPS 220 and / or UDPS 222 of FIG. In some embodiments, the route scheduling controller 260 can send control signals to the uplink switch 822 to achieve the desired configuration of unprocessed signal paths (eg, according to the route selection schedule 242). As shown, each uplink switch 822 can have an uplink switch input coupled to each uplink antenna port 201 of the antenna feed via its respective input subsystem 210, and each uplink switch 822. Can also have N uplink switch outputs. Each downlink power combiner 824 can have a downlink PC output coupled to each downlink antenna port 202 of the antenna feed via its own output subsystem 230, and each downlink power combiner 824 can also have a downlink power combiner 824. It can have N downlink PC inputs. Each of the N uplink switch outputs is coupled with each corresponding downlink PC input of the downlink power combiner 824.

Each downlink power combiner 824 operates to receive signals at all its downlink PC inputs and output a combination of those signals at its downlink PC outputs. Therefore, the downlink power combiner 824 effectively passes any signal received from any one or more of the uplink switches 822 so that the configuration of the unprocessed signal path depends on the configuration of the uplink switch 822. Defined. For example, the uplink signal from the uplink power combiner 822a can be configured to activate one of its inputs coupled to the downlink power combiner 824a, thereby activating the uplink power combiner 824a. Can pass through. In monocast mode, the other uplink switches 822 are not configured to activate their respective couplings to the downlink power combiner 824a, so that only the downlink power combiner 824a is the uplink switch 822a. Pass the signal from to its downlink PC output. Simulcast mode can be enabled by configuring multiple uplink switches 822 to activate their coupling to the same one of the downlink power combiners 824. For example, the uplink signals from the uplink switch 822a and the uplink switch 822b configure the uplink switch 822a to activate one of its outputs coupled to the downlink power combiner 824a, and By configuring the uplink switch 822b to activate one of its outputs coupled to the downlink power combiner 824a, it can be simulcast through the downlink power combiner 824a.

FIG. 9 shows a simplified block diagram of another exemplary satellite communication system 900, wherein the routing subsystem 250, including a routing switch and a power combiner, according to various embodiments. The satellite communication system 900 may be an implementation of the satellite communication system 800 of FIG. As shown in FIG. 8, the route selection subsystem 250 includes an uplink route selector implemented as an uplink switch and a downlink route selector implemented as a downlink power combiner. Unlike FIG. 8, where the components are generally not associated with the terrestrial terminal 505, FIG. 9 shows the user terminal 110 disposed within the covering region of each user beam and within the covering region of each gateway beam. The association with the gateway terminal 165 and the terrestrial terminal 505 arranged in the beam having both the user terminal 110 and the gateway terminal 165 is shown. As shown in FIG. 8 (and 7 as well), a combination of switches and power combiners can be used to enable dynamically reconfigurable signal paths in monocast and simulcast modes.

In the illustrated embodiment, J user beams (including, for example, J user uplink beams and J user downlink beams), K gateway beams (eg, K gateway uplink beams and). One user / gateway beam (eg, user / gateway uplink beam and user /) having both a gateway terminal 165 and a user terminal 110 disposed within the covering area thereof (including K gateway downlink beams). There is a gateway downlink beam). Therefore, on the input side of the route selection subsystem 250, J user uplink switches 922a to receive return uplink traffic from the associated user uplink beam via their respective input subsystems 210. j, implemented as K gateway uplink switches 926a-k, and additional user uplink switches 922j + 1, each receiving outbound uplink traffic from the associated gateway uplink through its respective input subsystem 210. There is one user / gateway uplink switch that can receive outbound and inbound uplink traffic from the associated user / gateway uplink beam via the corresponding input subsystem 210j + k + 1. As shown in FIG. 8, the route scheduling controller 260 can send a control signal to the uplink switch 922 to achieve the desired configuration of the unprocessed signal path (eg, according to the route selection schedule 242). On the output side of the routing subsystem 250, J user downlink power combiners 924a-j each transmit outbound downlink traffic to the associated user downlink beam via their respective output subsystem 230. K gateway downlink power combiners 928a-k, each sending inbound downlink traffic to the associated gateway downlink beam through its respective output subsystem 230, and additional user downlink power combiner 924j + 1 One user / gateway downlink power combiner, which can be implemented as, can send outbound and inbound downlink traffic to the associated user / gateway downlink beam via the corresponding output subsystem 230j + k + 1. Exists.

As shown, the routing subsystem 250 couples one of the user uplink beams to one or more of the gateway downlink beams (including, for example, the user / gateway downlink beam). Can be configured. Therefore, the user uplink switch 922 is shown as having K + 1 outputs to couple with the K gateway downlink power combiner 928 and the user / gateway downlink power combiner 924j + 1. The routing subsystem 250 also couples one of the gateway upbeams with any one or more of the user downlink beam and / or the gateway downlink beam (including, for example, the user / gateway downlink beam). Can be configured in. Therefore, the gateway uplink 926 is assumed to have J + K + 1 outputs to combine with J user downlink power combiner 924, K gateway downlink power combiner 928, and user / gateway downlink power combiner 924j + 1. It is shown. The illustrated implementation of the user / gateway route selector is designed so that the user / gateway uplink beam can be combined with any of the gateway downlink beams and / or its own corresponding user / gateway downlink beam. .. Therefore, the user / gateway uplink power switch 922j + 1 is shown to have K + 1 outputs to combine with the K gateway downlink power combiner 928 and the user / gateway downlink power combiner 924j + 1. Alternatively, the user / gateway route selector may allow the user / gateway upbeam to be combined with any of the gateway downlink beams, any of the user downlink beams, and / or its own corresponding user / gateway downlink beam. Can be designed as In such an implementation, the user / gateway uplink power switch 922j + 1 is J + K + 1 to combine with J user downlink power combiner 924, K gateway downlink power combiner 928, and user / gateway downlink power combiner 924j + 1. It can be implemented as an additional gateway uplink switch with multiple outputs.

The system shown in FIGS. 1-10 enables various embodiments to provide dynamic reconstruction of unprocessed signal paths in a manner that supports one or more simulcast signal paths. These and / or other embodiments include means for receiving a plurality of uplink signals via the plurality of fixed uplink spot beams. The receiving means may include any one or more of the uplinks and / or input elements described above. For example, means for receiving include receiving antenna elements (eg, antenna beam feeds, uplink antenna ports, reflectors, etc.) and / or input subsystem elements (eg, amplifiers, failover switches, frequency converters, etc.). Channel filters, etc.) can be included. The embodiment can further include means for transmitting the plurality of downlink signals via the plurality of downlink fixed spot beams. The means of transmission may include any one or more of the downlinks and / or output elements described above. For example, the means for transmitting include transmitting antenna elements (eg, antenna beam feeds, downlink antenna ports, reflectors, etc.) and / or output subsystem elements (eg, amplifiers, waveguides, butler matrices, frequencies, etc.). Converters, channel filters, etc.) can be included.

Such embodiments may further include means for dynamically forming a plurality of unprocessed signal paths for selectively coupling the receiving means with the transmitting means. Means for dynamic formation can be implemented in Simulcast mode such that at least two of the downlink signals are formed from the same one of the uplink signals (ie, one). The uplink signal received via the uplink beam can be simulcast as a downlink signal via at least two downlink beams). Means for dynamically forming can include any suitable element for dynamically reconstructing the unprocessed signal path, as described above. In some embodiments, the means for dynamically forming include elements of a route selector system, such as uplink and / or downlink route selectors, one or more divider-combiner networks, and the like. In other embodiments, the means for dynamically forming can include components of the input and / or output subsystem that are not included in the means for receiving or the means for transmitting. For example, the means for dynamically forming can include one or more amplifiers, filters, converters, and the like.

FIG. 11 shows a flow diagram of an exemplary method 1100 for flexible intrasatellite routing of outbound link communication between a plurality of fixed spot beams according to various embodiments. An embodiment of method 1100 begins at step 1104 and combines one of a large number of uplink antenna ports with one of a large number of downlink antenna ports to create a monocast unprocessed (vent pipe type) signal path. To form, it begins by switching the route selector system to the first configuration of the plurality of configurations at the first time point. At step 1108, an embodiment is capable of transmitting a first traffic over one of a number of fixed spot beams via a monocast unprocessed signal path and one downlink antenna port. In some embodiments, in step 1104, one uplink antenna port is a gateway uplink antenna port and one downlink antenna port is a user downlink antenna port, thereby unprocessed outbound link monocast. Form a signal path. In such an embodiment, in step 1108, the first traffic is outbound link traffic received at one gateway uplink antenna port while the route selector system is in the first configuration. In another embodiment, in step 1104, one uplink antenna port is a user uplink antenna port and one downlink antenna port is a gateway downlink antenna port, thereby a return link monocast unprocessed signal. Form a pathway. In such an embodiment, in step 1108, the first traffic is the return link traffic received at one user uplink antenna port while the route selector system is in the first configuration.

At step 1112, at a second time point (different from the first time point), an embodiment combines one uplink antenna port with multiple downlink antenna ports to form a simulcast unprocessed signal path. As such, the route selector system can be switched to the second configuration of the configurations. At step 1116, embodiments may simultaneously transmit a second traffic over multiple fixed spot beams via a simulcast unprocessed signal path and multiple downlink antenna ports. In some embodiments, in stage 1112, one uplink antenna port is the gateway uplink antenna port and the multiple downlink antenna port is the user downlink antenna port, thereby the outbound link simulcast unprocessed signal. Form a pathway. In such an embodiment, in stage 1116, the second traffic is outbound link traffic received at one gateway uplink antenna port while the route selector system is in the second configuration. In another embodiment, in step 1112, one uplink antenna port is the user uplink antenna port and the multiple downlink antenna port is the gateway downlink antenna port, thereby the return link simulcast unprocessed signal path. To form. In such an embodiment, in stage 1116, the second traffic is the return link traffic received at one user uplink antenna port while the route selector system is in the second configuration.

The methods disclosed herein include one or more actions to achieve the methods described. The methods and / or actions can be interchanged without departing from the claims. In other words, unless a specific order of actions is specified, the specific order and / or use of actions can be modified without departing from the scope of the claims.

Various operations of the methods and functions of certain system components described above can be performed by any suitable means capable of performing the corresponding functions. These measures can be implemented in hardware in whole or in part. Thus, they may include one or more Application Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs) adapted to perform a subset of applicable functions within the hardware. Alternatively, the function may be performed by one or more other processing units (or cores) on one or more integrated circuits (ICs). In other embodiments, other types of integrated circuits (eg, structured / platform ASICs, Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs), and other semi-custom ICs) can be used, which may be used. Can be programmed. Each is an instruction embodied in a computer-readable medium, formatted to be executed by one or more general or application-specific controllers, and may be implemented in whole or in part. The embodiments also support plug-and-play capabilities (eg, via the Digital Living Network Alliance (DLNA) standard), wireless networks (eg, via the 802.11 standard), and the like. It can also be configured.

The steps of methods or algorithms or other functions described in connection with the present disclosure can be embodied directly in hardware, in software modules executed by a processor, or in combination of the two. The software module can reside in any form of tangible storage medium. Some examples of storage media that can be used include random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, EPROM memory, EPROM memory, registers, hard disks, Detachable discs, etc. The storage medium can be combined with the processor so that the processor can read information from the storage medium and write the information to the storage medium. Alternatively, the storage medium may be integrated with the processor.

The software module may be a single instruction or many instructions and may be distributed across multiple storage media and several different code segments within different programs. Therefore, the computer program product can perform the operations presented herein. For example, such a computer program product may be a computer-readable tangible medium with tangibly stored (and / or encoded) instructions on it, which are described herein. It can be performed by one or more processors to perform the operation. Computer program products can include packaging materials. The software or instructions can also be transmitted via the transmission medium. For example, the software uses a transmission medium such as coaxial cable, fiber optic cable, twist pair, digital subscriber line (DSL), or wireless technology such as infrared, radio, or microwave to create a website, server. , Or can be sent from another remote source.

Other examples and implementations are within the scope and purpose of the claims and attachments of this disclosure and attachment. For example, features that implement a feature can also be physically positioned at various locations, including being distributed so that some of the features are implemented in different physical locations. Also, as used herein, including the claims, "or" as used in the list of items prefixed by "at least one" is, for example, "at least one A, B, Or C'list indicates a detached list as it means A or B or C or AB or AC or BC or ABC (ie, A and B and C). Moreover, the term "exemplary" does not mean that the described example is preferred or better than the other examples.

Various modifications, substitutions, and modifications to the techniques described herein can be made without departing from the teaching techniques defined by the appended claims. Furthermore, the scope of the present disclosure and claims is not limited to the specific aspects of the processes, machines, manufactures, material compositions, means, methods, and actions described above. Processes, machines, manufactures, composition of substances, means, which currently exist or are developed to perform substantially the same functions or achieve substantially the same results as the corresponding embodiments described herein. Methods or actions can be used. Accordingly, the appended claims include such processes, machines, manufactures, composition of substances, means, methods, or actions within that scope.

Claims (49)

A bent-pipe satellite with flexible intra-satellite communication between multiple fixed spot beams.
A fixed spot beam antenna subsystem having a plurality of uplink antenna ports and a plurality of downlink antenna ports, wherein the uplink antenna port includes a gateway uplink antenna port and a user uplink antenna port, and the downlink antenna. With a fixed spot beam antenna subsystem, the port comprises a gateway downlink antenna port and a user downlink antenna port.
A route selection subsystem that activates a plurality of unprocessed outbound signal paths in response to a control signal, wherein the plurality of unprocessed outbound signal paths includes a plurality of gateway uplink route selectors (GUPS) and a plurality of user downs. A routing subsystem that couples the plurality of gateway uplink antenna ports with at least a portion of the plurality of user downlink antenna ports via a link path selector (UDPS).
A route scheduling controller that provides the control signal to the route selection subsystem in order to activate the plurality of unprocessed outbound signal routes according to a route selection schedule.
The route selection subsystem comprises an outbound simulcast mode in which, when active, the gateway up is such that one of the plurality of unprocessed outbound signal paths is the outbound simulcast signal path. A ventpipe satellite that couples one of the link antenna ports with the multiple user downlink antenna ports. Each GUPS comprises a GUPS input coupled to each one of the gateway uplink antenna ports and a plurality of GUPS outputs.
Each UDPS comprises a UDPS output coupled to each one of the user downlink antenna ports and a plurality of UDPS inputs.
The bentpipe satellite according to claim 1, wherein at least some of the UDPS inputs are coupled to one of the GUPS outputs. The vent pipe satellite according to claim 2, wherein at least one of the unprocessed outbound signal paths is formed by selecting one of the UDPS inputs of one of the UDPS. The bent pipe satellite according to claim 2 or 3, wherein at least one of the unprocessed outbound signal paths is formed by selecting one of the GUPS outputs of one of the GUPS. .. 1. A power divider that operates to combine one of the gateway uplink antenna ports with any one or more of the UDPS at a time. The vent pipe type satellite according to any one of 3 to 3. At least one of the UDPS is a power combiner that operates to couple the plurality of the GUPS to at least one of the user downlink antenna ports at a time, claims 1, 2, and 4. , Or the vent pipe type satellite according to any one of 5. Each UDPS is any of claims 1-5, which is a selector switch that operates to combine one of the user downlink antenna ports with any single one of the GUPS at a time. The vent pipe type satellite described in item 1. The route selection subsystem further comprises a plurality of unprocessed return signal paths, wherein the plurality of unprocessed return signal paths include a plurality of user uplink route selectors (UPS) and a plurality of gateway downlink route selectors (GDPS). The vent pipe type satellite according to any one of claims 1 to 7, wherein at least some of the plurality of user uplink antenna ports are coupled to the plurality of gateway downlink antenna ports via the plurality of user uplink antenna ports. The route selection subsystem further comprises a return simulcast mode, the return simulcast mode being multiplexed such that when active, one of the plurality of unprocessed return signal paths is the return simulcast signal path. The vent pipe satellite according to claim 8, wherein the user uplink antenna port is coupled to one of the gateway downlink antenna ports. Each GDPS comprises a GDPS output coupled to each one of the gateway downlink antenna ports and a plurality of GDPS inputs.
Each UUPS comprises a UUPS input coupled to each one of the user uplink antenna ports and a plurality of UUPS outputs.
The bentpipe satellite according to claim 8 or 9, wherein at least some of the UUPS outputs are coupled to one of the GDPS inputs. The bent pipe satellite according to claim 10, wherein at least one of the unprocessed return signal paths is formed by selecting one of the UUPS outputs of one of the UUPS. The bentpipe satellite according to claim 10 or 11, wherein at least one of the unprocessed return signal paths is formed by selecting one of the GDPS inputs of one of the GDPS. At least one of the unprocessed return signal paths has one of the user uplink ports of the user downlink port via one of the UUPS and one of the UDPS. The vent pipe type satellite according to any one of claims 8 to 12, which is combined with the corresponding one of the above. 8. At least one of the GDPS is a power divider that operates to combine one of the gateway downlink antenna ports with any one or more of the UUPS at a time. The bent pipe type satellite according to any one of 11 to 13. At least one of the UUPS is a power combiner that operates to combine a plurality of the GDPS with at least one of the user uplink antenna ports at a time, claims 8-10, 12 or 13. The vent pipe type satellite according to any one of 13. A switch according to claim 8-11, 13 or 14, wherein each UUPS is a switch that operates to combine one of the user uplink antenna ports with any single one of the GDPS at a time. The vent pipe type satellite according to any one item. The route selection subsystem is
Further equipped with a divider-combiner network (DCN) having multiple DCN inputs and multiple DCN outputs.
Each GUPS comprises a GUPS simulcast output coupled with each one of the plurality of DCN inputs.
The vent pipe type satellite according to any one of claims 1 to 16, wherein each UDPS includes a UDPS simulcast input combined with each one of the plurality of DCN outputs. Each GUPS has N + 1 GUPS outputs with N monocast outputs and said GUPS simulcast outputs.
Each UDPS comprises N + 1 UDPS inputs with N monocast inputs and said UDPS simulcast input.
The divider-combiner network comprises N DCN inputs and N DCN outputs.
The bent pipe satellite according to claim 17, wherein each monocast output of each GUPS is combined with each monocast input of one of the UDPS. The route selection subsystem is
The vent according to any one of claims 1-18, each further comprising a plurality of channel filters coupled between each one of the GUPS and one of the gateway uplink antenna ports. Pipe type satellite. The route selection subsystem is
The vent according to any one of claims 1-19, each further comprising a plurality of frequency converters coupled between each one of the UDPS and one of the user downlink antenna ports. Pipe type satellite. The route selection subsystem is
The vent according to any one of claims 1 to 20, each further comprising a plurality of frequency converters coupled between each one of the GUPS and each one of the gateway uplink antenna ports. Pipe type satellite. Claims 1 to further include a plurality of input subsystems, each comprising a plurality of low noise amplifiers coupled between each one of the GUPS and each one of the gateway uplink antenna ports. 21. The vent pipe type satellite according to any one of the above. A plurality of output subsystems are further provided, and each of the plurality of output subsystems is a multi-port amplifier coupled between each one of the UDPS and one of the user downlink antenna ports. The vent pipe type satellite according to any one of claims 1 to 22, comprising the portion of. 23. The ventpipe satellite of claim 23, wherein the multiport amplifier comprises a plurality of power amplifiers coupled between a first butler matrix and a second butler matrix. A memory in which a set of route selection schedules and instructions is stored, and when executed, the set of route selection schedules and instructions is used to activate the plurality of unprocessed outbound signal routes according to the route selection schedule. The vent pipe satellite according to any one of claims 1 to 24, further comprising a memory that causes the route scheduling controller to provide the control signal to the route selection subsystem. The vent pipe type satellite according to claim 25, wherein the route selection schedule can be updated according to control information received from a ground terminal while the satellite is in orbit. A signal path selection system for bentpipe fixed beam satellites
Means for receiving multiple uplink signals over multiple fixed uplink spot beams, and
A means for transmitting a plurality of downlink signals via the plurality of downlink fixed spot beams, and
A means for dynamically forming a plurality of non-processed signal paths to selectively combine the means for receiving with the means for transmitting, thereby, in the simulcast mode, said. A system comprising means, wherein at least two of the downlink signals are formed from the same one of the uplink signals. The dynamically forming means further selectively couples the means for receiving with the means for transmitting, whereby in monocast mode, each of the downlink signals is said up. The signal path selection system according to claim 27, which is a different downlink signal formed from each different one of the link signals. The means for receiving includes a plurality of input means for relaying each one of the plurality of uplink signals to the means for dynamically forming the plurality of uplink signals.
The means for transmitting includes a plurality of output means for relaying each one of the plurality of downlink signals from the means for dynamically forming the signals.
The means for dynamically forming includes route scheduling means for reconstructing a plurality of route selection means at each of a plurality of times, whereby each input means follows a route selection schedule at each time. The signal path selection system according to claim 27, which is coupled with each one of the output means. Each of the portions of the plurality of route selection means includes means for selecting which of the plurality of output means is to be combined with each one of the plurality of input means.
Reconstructing the plurality of route selection means means selecting one of the plurality of output means for each of the portions of the plurality of route selection means, and among the plurality of input means. 29. The signal path selection system of claim 29, comprising combining with each of the above. The portion is the first portion of the plurality of route selection means.
The signal path selection system according to claim 30, wherein each of the second portions of the plurality of route selection means comprises means for combining signals received from the first portion of the plurality of route selection means. Each of the portions of the plurality of route selection means includes means for selecting which of the plurality of input means is to be combined with each one of the plurality of output means.
Reconstructing the plurality of route selection means means selecting one of the plurality of input means for each of the portions of the plurality of route selection means, and among the plurality of output means. The signal path selection system according to claim 29 or 30, comprising combining with each one of the above. The portion is the first portion of the plurality of route selection means.
Each of the second parts of the plurality of route selection means includes a means for dividing a signal received from the plurality of input means and a means for relaying the divided signal to the first part. 32. The signal path selection system according to claim 32. The dynamically forming means comprises a divider and combiner means for selectively combining the means for receiving with the means for transmitting, thereby causing the down in the simulcast mode. The signal path selection system according to any one of claims 27 to 33, wherein at least two of the link signals are formed from the same one of the uplink signals. Further equipped with a means for storing the route selection schedule,
The means for dynamically forming is according to any one of claims 27 to 34, wherein the means for receiving is selectively combined with the means for transmitting according to the route selection schedule. Signal path selection system. 35. The signal path selection system of claim 35, further comprising means for updating the route selection schedule while the satellite is in orbit. A flexible intrasatellite routing method for communication between multiple fixed spot beams.
Multiple path selector systems are configured at the first point in time so that one of the plurality of uplink antenna ports is combined with one of the plurality of downlink antenna ports to form a monocast unprocessed signal path. The process of first switching to the first configuration of
A step of first transmitting a first traffic by one of a plurality of fixed spot beams via the monocast unprocessed signal path and the one downlink antenna port, wherein the first traffic is The process of receiving at the one uplink antenna port while the path selector system is in the first configuration.
Of the plurality of configurations, the path selector system at a second time point is such that the one uplink antenna port is combined with the plurality of downlink antenna ports to form a simulcast unprocessed signal path. The process of switching to the second configuration of
A step of simultaneously transmitting a second traffic second by the plurality of fixed spot beams via the simulcast unprocessed signal path and the multiplex downlink antenna port, wherein the second traffic is. A method comprising the steps of receiving at said one uplink antenna port while said path selector system is in said second configuration. The plurality of uplink antenna ports are gateway uplink antenna ports.
The plurality of downlink antenna ports are user downlink antenna ports.
37. The method of claim 37, wherein the first and second traffic are outbound link traffic. The plurality of uplink antenna ports are user uplink antenna ports.
The plurality of downlink antenna ports are gateway downlink antenna ports.
37. The method of claim 37, wherein the first and second traffic are return link traffic. One of the multiple uplink route selectors (UPS) is
With the UPS input coupled to the one uplink antenna port,
Each is a plurality of UPS outputs coupled with each one of a plurality of downlink path selectors (DPS), and each DPS is further coupled with each one of the plurality of downlink antenna ports. , With multiple UPS outputs,
The first switch comprises selecting one of the plurality of UPS outputs of the one UPS at the first time point, whereby the selection is the one UPS and the said. Any one of claims 37-39, wherein the one uplink antenna port is coupled with the one downlink antenna port via one of the DPSs to form the monocast uninterruptible signal path. The method described in. The plurality of UPS outputs are UPS monocast outputs.
The one UPS further comprises a simulcast output coupled with a divider-combiner network, and the divider-combiner network is further coupled with a simulcast input of each DPS.
The second switch comprises selecting the simulcast output of the one UPS at the second time point, whereby the selection is the simulcast output of the one UPS, said divider. -The one uplink antenna port is coupled with the multiple downlink antenna ports via the combiner network and the simulcast inputs of the DPS to form the simulcast unprocessed signal path. 40. The method of claim 40. Each of the multiple DPS
With the DPS output coupled to the one downlink antenna port,
With a plurality of DPS inputs, each of which is coupled with one of a plurality of UPSs, each of which is further coupled with a plurality of DPS inputs of each of the plurality of uplink antenna ports. With,
The first switch comprises selecting one of the plurality of DPS inputs of the one DPS at the first time point, whereby the selection is one of the UPS. One of claims 37 to 39, wherein the one uplink antenna port is coupled with the one downlink antenna port via the one and the one DPS to form the monocast non-processed signal path. The method described in the section. The second switch selects one of the DPS inputs of each of the at least two DPSs at the second time point in order to combine the at least two DPSs with the one UPS. Including, thereby selecting the Simulcast uninterrupted signal by coupling the one uplink antenna port with the multiple downlink antenna port via the one UPS and the at least two DPSs. 42. The method of claim 42, which forms a pathway. Each of the plurality of UPSs
A UPS input coupled to each one of the plurality of uplink antenna ports,
Each comprises a plurality of UPS outputs, each coupled with one of the plurality of DPSs.
The first switching is one of the plurality of UPS outputs of the one of the plurality of DPS inputs of the one DPS and one of the plurality of UPSs at the first time point. The selection comprises selecting both, thereby making the one uplink antenna port and the one downlink antenna port via the one of the UPS and the one DPS. 42 or 43. The method of claim 42 or 43, which combine to form the monocast uninterrupted signal path. The plurality of DPS inputs are DPS monocast inputs.
Each of the plurality of DPSs further comprises a simulcast input coupled with the respective output of the divider-combiner network.
The plurality of UPS outputs are UPS monocast outputs.
The one UPS further comprises a simulcast output coupled with the input of the divider-combiner network.
The second switch comprises selecting the simulcast output of the one UPS and selecting the simulcast input of each of the plurality of DPSs at the second time point, thereby. The selection is such that the one uplink antenna port is multiplexed via the simulcast output of the one UPS, the divider-combiner network, and the simulcast input of the plurality of DPSs. 44. The method of claim 44, which combines with the downlink antenna port of the above to form the simulcast unprocessed signal path. The method of any one of claims 37-45, wherein the plurality of uplink antenna ports are coupled to the path selector system via a plurality of input subsystems, each input subsystem comprising a low noise amplifier. .. Any one of claims 37-46, wherein the plurality of downlink antenna ports are coupled to the path selector system via a plurality of output subsystems, each output subsystem comprising a portion of a multiport amplifier. The method described in. 37 to 47, wherein the first switching to the first configuration and the second switching to the second configuration are performed according to a route selection schedule stored in the memory of the route selection system. The method according to any one of the above. The route selector system is arranged in the satellite and
Receiving control information from a ground terminal by the satellite while the satellite is in orbit,
48. The method of claim 48, further comprising updating the route selection schedule in the memory according to the control information.

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